Golf course architect Gil Hanse at a media event unveiling the PGA of America’s new home in Frisco, Texas on Oct. 18, 2019. (Photo: Darren Carroll/Getty Images for the PGA of America)
“Incredibly exciting. A little nerve-racking. We were saying it’s not every day you open a golf course and have a major championship be hosted on it.
“We love a little feedback. I guess we’re going to get some this week, and we’ll see how that goes. But we’re very excited, very proud. Jim Wagner, my partner, and I are really proud of what we’ve done and really excited. Took a ride around with Roger Meier, the director of agronomy, and the place looks great.
“It’s an interesting feeling because we’ve been fortunate to work on a lot of restorations of classic golf courses that have hosted major championships, and while we’re fully invested and that’s our work, it’s not our design because we believe strongly that what we’re trying to do is put Tillinghast back into Winged Foot, put Maxwell back into Southern Hills.
“Here it’s just us. It’s our ideas, our thoughts, what we believe about golf architecture, what we think ultimately will provide a good test of golf for the best players in the world. Not that there’s more at stake, but you just feel a little more of a tingle, I think.
“I’m expecting that we’re going to feel a similar sense of pride. We’re going to feel probably a similar sense of relief if all goes well, which we expect it will, and we get a great champion on Sunday.
“Most of our architecture focuses on playability and design and what we’re trying to do to challenge golfers, whether that be resort golfers or the best golfers in the world. We’re going to get to do both here. So we tend to really enjoy sinking our teeth into that aspect of it. But this project was so complex from the standpoint of it’s not just an 18-hole golf course. It’s a world-class resort. It’s another 18-hole golf course. It’s the PGA of America’s headquarters. It’s practice facilities, short game facility.
Gil Hanse designed the East Course and Beau Welling designed the West Course at Fields Ranch on the PGA Frisco complex. (Photo: Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
“From a land planning perspective, there was a lot more going on here as to the full campus and the design that Beau Welling, who did a great job on the West Course, was very involved in from a land planning standpoint. Then throwing on top of that, the difficulties of…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…